William Gifford
Did you know?
The oddballs among us are likely familiar with zany as an adjective, meaning "eccentric." But did you know the word originated as a noun—one that has withstood the test of time? Zanies have been theatrical buffoons since the heyday of the Italian commedia dell’arte, in which a "zanni" was a stock servant character, often an intelligent and proud valet with abundant common sense and a love of practical jokes. Zanni comes from a dialect nickname for Giovanni, the Italian form of John. The character quickly spread throughout European theater circles, inspiring such familiar characters as Pierrot and Harlequin, and by the late 1500s an anglicized version of the noun zany was introduced to English. The adjective appeared within decades, and eventually both adopted more general meanings to refer to or describe those of us who are quipsters and weirdos.
Examples of zany in a Sentence
Catherine Santino, PEOPLE, 25 Oct. 2025
Burnett’s out-of-costume persona—approachable, winning, game—earned her a kind of good will with audiences that her zany sketch material alone might not have.
—Rachel Syme, New Yorker, 29 Sep. 2025
Liam Neeson and Pamela Anderson's zany cop film, the promotions for which sparked romance rumors for the two, is hitting streaming soon.
—Saman Shafiq, USA Today, 29 Sep. 2025
Solis can be zany, physical, funny and tender, as well as tragic.
—Teri Sforza, Oc Register, 26 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for zany
Cite this Entry
“Zany.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/zany. Accessed 30 Oct. 2025.
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zany
2 of 2 adjective
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